Deep Woods, Wild Waters ─ A Memoir

Wait, young Douglas’s grandfather says as the bobber twitches on the surface of Little Lake. Be patient. And so begins an encounter with the promise and wonder of nature that will last a lifetime. Deep Woods, Wild Waters traces the winding path that carried Douglas Wood from one wonder to the next, through a landscape of rocks, woods, and waters, with stops along the way for questions and reflections that link human nature to the larger mysteries of the natural world.

Like life itself, the author’s way is not linear. One landmark leads back to a favorite campsite, another prompts him to consider the “gospel of rocks,” another launches him into the wilderness beyond the stars—a contemplation of time and space and humanity’s place in all of it. The creator of thirty-four books, including the classic Old Turtle, and an expert woodsman and wilderness canoe guide, Wood brings all his storytelling and bushwhacking skills to bear as he takes us hurtling down wild rapids, crossing stormy lakes, or simply navigating the treacherous currents and twisty trails of everyday life.

 A warm, generous, and knowing guide, Wood maps a journey that, as he says, “anyone can take, through a landscape anyone can know.” Turning the pages, hiking the portages, running the rapids, or scanning the wild country from high promontory, he invites us to say, in a soul-satisfying moment of recognition, “I know that place.” 

Douglas Wood’s first book, Old Turtle, was hailed as an “instant classic.” His other works, including the New York Times bestseller Grandad’s Prayers of the Earth and his humorous Can’t Do series, have earned such honors as the American Booksellers Book of the Year Award, the Christopher Medal, Parents’ Choice Award, International Reading Association Book of the Year Award, Smithsonian Notable Books for Children Award, Storytelling World Award, and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Minnesota Association for Environmental Education. He has read his books at the White House and New York’s Lincoln Center. He lives with his family in a log cabin on the Mississippi River.